[Filmguy]

I am becoming very interested in the Jolida line of tube amps. Having had a Denon PVA-900V recently die puts me in a unique situation. I have
always had a deep admiration of tube amps but never persued it any further.

My musical tastes are:
Orchestral film music by John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and Bernard Herrmann.
Classical Orchestral. Most of my recordings are on the Telarc label.
Jazz from the Rippingtons, Dave Grusin, Bob James, Kevin Peek etc.
Rock music from groups like ELO, Moody Blues,Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd, Journey etc.

The music room is my front living room so the amp will also be playing audio from DVD. CD sourced music is the primary reason for the tube amp. My room is 10ft by18ft with 8ft ceilings. My house is off the ground (on piers) and has Oak wood floors. My sound levels tend to be reasonable not blasting. However when the wife and kids are not home I still want to blast it.

So my questions are:
1. What Jolida amp would fit my music needs?
2. Is the 801A a better build of amp since there are no mods listed?
3. My speakers are the older(81/82) Advent bookshelf with the Walnut enclosure. They were just recently re-coned. I have grown so acustomed to their sound I can't imagine listening to another speaker. Any problems driving these speakers with a tube amp?
4. Do the mods push the amps beyond their designed reliability?

My old system:
Denon PVA-900V
Sony DVD/CD player
Advent Bookshelf(Walnut enclosures)
Monster Cables for speaker connects
Okay you can stop laughing!

Since my budget is tight I certainly can't afford to screw this up. I have also reached a point in my life where I want a silky smooth pure elegant sound. I can't help but be drawn to the warm glow of tubes...Help!

Tom

[Bill Baker]

1. What Jolida amp would fit my music needs?
   I would look at the 502B or 801A given the size of your room and choice of speakers (I am not real familiar with the specs of these speakers, sensitivity?, resistance?) If they are very easy to drive, the 302B would be a good choice.

2. Is the 801A a better build of amp since there are no mods listed? NO, just different. I may be offering mods for this amp this fall.

3. My speakers are the older(81/82) Advent bookshelf with the Walnut enclosure. They were just recently re-coned. I have grown so acustomed to their sound I can't imagine listening to another speaker. Any problems driving these speakers with a tube amp? Again, do you have any figures on these speakers?

4. Do the mods push the amps beyond their designed reliability? Not at all. IN fact, depending on who performs these mods, the better quality parts may make them more reliable. This is the reason I become so involved in modding the older "A" series 302 and 502.

  If you can provide some numbers on your speakers such as sensitivity, resistance and design (ported or sealed) it would help in choosing a better match for your personal taste and listening habits.

[Filmguy]

Bill,
Wow thanks for the quick response! The Advents never had a power rating. The user manual recommends any amp that has lots of headroom and low distortion. They are (8ohm?) acoustic suspension 2way sealed enclosures. There is a 3way switch on the back to adjust the tweeter response. They have very tight and controlled bass but by todays designs I'm sure they are dated. They are however the cleanest 2way speaker I have ever heard. Mind you I have been out of the Audiophile arena for over 16yrs! I was just simply satisfied with what I had.

I stumbled upon the Jolida website Sat night. Jolida's prices floored me since I was looking toward a CJ-CAV-50. There are not many reviews of Jolida which kindof made it hard for me to find in the first place. I am still doing my homework but I really like what Jolida is all about.

Tom

[Bill Baker]

Wow thanks for the quick response! The Advents never had a power rating. The user manual recommends any amp that has lots of headroom and low distortion. They are (8ohm?) acoustic suspension 2way sealed enclosures. There is a 3way switch on the back to adjust the tweeter response. They have very tight and controlled bass but by todays designs I'm sure they are dated. They are however the cleanest 2way speaker I have ever heard. Mind you I have been out of the Audiophile arena for over 16yrs! I was just simply satisfied with what I had.
If you're happy, no need to change.

  Well, the power rating is really not that important. The key here is the design. A sealed enclosure requires a good amount of power, actually current, to bring out their potential. I would think the 502B would be a good amp to power these speakers as they use the 6550 tube which has more control and authority than some other tube types.

I stumbled upon the Jolida website Sat night. Jolida's prices floored me since I was looking toward a CJ-CAV-50. There are not many reviews of Jolida which kindof made it hard for me to find in the first place. I am still doing my homework but

I really like what Jolida is all about.

 

  Agreed, this has been what keeps me so dedicated to them. They stand behind their product, customer service is great and they offer a wide range of high value products to cater to many different budgets and taste.


There are actually quite a bit of reviews out there such as ones found on TNT-audio.com, audioreview and many others. Jolida has come a LONG way since their introduction of tube amps back in 1995. I have been a Jolida dealer since the beginning and have gone through their groth along with them. Their product are very reliable and offer an EXCEPTIONAL value in tube audio. As you can see from my website, I am obviously very dedicated to the Jolida line.

[Marbles]

I had Advents that I bought in 1978, probably the same model.  I used an Onkyo TX2500MKII to drive them.  This receiver was only rated for 30 WPC in the days that wattage was under rated.  This drove them very loud, even by college standards.

Hope this helps you guys somehow

[Bill Baker]

Hi Marbles,
   I don't think most any amp or receiver would have aproblem driving these speakers but if I was to guess, your standards were different back then? Quantity over quality? Just a guess. I know I wasn't paying much attention to the quality of music in my party days as long as it was LOUD and pissed off the neighbors.

  I can run a pair of 85dB speakers with a 20 watt amp at low volumes but we all know what will happen if we tried to get "loud" with this arrangement. I currently have a Trioded Jolida 102 at only 12 watts per channel that is running a pair of speakers rated at 87dB, it sounds great at low to medium levels but there is obvious distortion if I tried to rattle the windows. Application and listening habits allow me to run this setup with very good results. My big system in the family room......different story.

  Tom mentioned he was looking for something that would sound good and be able to "blast it" from time to time. There are obviusly MANY options available and one can only offer options to consider. I do honestly believe that the wife may also be quite surprised of how her favorite music sounds being played back through tubes. The power may not matter to her much unless she is also blasting it when he is out of the house. How many of you/us big rig system owners have come home only to find one of our spouse's CDs in the player and the volume know still sitting at the 2 o'clock position because they forgot to turn it back down when they saw you pulling in the driveway and just hit the power switch in a panic. "Sorry honey, I don't know how that phaseplug thingamjiggy got stuck into the wall in the other room!?!"

[Marbles]

Hi Marbles,
   I don't think most any amp or receiver would have aproblem driving these speakers but if I was to guess, your standards were different back then? Quantity over quality? Just a guess. I know I wasn't paying much attention to the quality of music in my party days as long as it was LOUD and pissed off the neighbors.

  I can run a pair of 85dB speakers with a 20 watt amp at low volumes but we all know what will happen if we tried to get "loud" with this arrangement. I currently have a Trioded ...

Actually, those components and my Micro Seiki MB14 TT made beautiful music for me.  Of course I didn't know much in those days, but that system did sound good to me in those daze (yes spelled correctly).  I later upgraded those Advents to Sansui XP 6900 speakers in 1981.  As a side note, those Advents are the only components I have no idea what I did with.  By that I mean I can recall what happened to every audio component I no longer have but those Advents.  I hope I either got a lot of cash, drugs or pussy with them.  There was a lot of all those things going around at that time (1981) my junior year in college.  

[Bill Baker]

Hi Marbles,
   Looking at your signature, it sounds like you may still BE in those days.
  By the way, have you looked in your basement for the advents? Wouldn't it be a kicker if you just forgot where you put them and still in your possesion. Kinda like finding a 50 dollar bill in your coat from 3 winters ago.

  Also, I still have a pair of original Dynaco A-25 and Allied something-or-other speakers in my closet that are in excellent shape. And yes, they do still produce great music!! Especially the A-25s being driven by tubes..

[Marbles]

Hi Marbles,
   Looking at your signature, it sounds like you may still BE in those days.
  By the way, have you looked in your basement for the advents? Wouldn't it be a kicker if you just forgot where you put them and still in your possesion. Kinda like finding a 50 dollar bill in your coat from 3 winters ago.

 

Yup, and these are still the good old daze  

[lonewolfny42]

Had a pair of advents way back in the '70s.Nice two way at the time.They even had a model called baby advents.Heres a link that might help http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/30thAnniversary/143_double_advent.html

[lonewolfny42]

And another link---  http://members.aol.com/KDresch/largeadvent.html

[Filmguy]

Just wanted to say Thanks to all who responded!

Tom